Edward Snowden Warns Against Trusting OpenAI After NSA Director Appointment

TLDR

1. OpenAI appointed retired U.S. Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, a former NSA director, to its board of directors and the newly formed Safety and Security Committee.
2. Edward Snowden, a former NSA subcontractor turned whistleblower, strongly criticized the decision, urging people not to trust OpenAI or its products like ChatGPT.
3. Snowden called the appointment a “willful, calculated betrayal of the rights of every person on Earth” and warned the public about the implications of having an NSA director on OpenAI’s board.
4. Nakasone, who retired from the NSA in February 2023, was also the longest-serving leader of the U.S. Cyber Command and chief of the Central Security Service.
5. The appointment comes as OpenAI bolsters its leadership team and partnerships, including a recent collaboration with Apple to integrate ChatGPT with Siri and the hiring of two top executives.

OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind the widely popular ChatGPT, has recently appointed retired U.S. Army Gen. Paul Nakasone, a former director of the National Security Agency (NSA), to its board of directors.

The decision has drawn sharp criticism from Edward Snowden, the former NSA subcontractor turned whistleblower, who has warned the public not to trust OpenAI or its products.

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter), Snowden called the appointment a “willful, calculated betrayal of the rights of every person on Earth.” He urged people to be cautious of OpenAI and its offerings, stating, “Do not ever trust @OpenAI or its products (ChatGPT etc.) There is only one reason for appointing an @NSAGov Director to your board.”

They've gone full mask-off: ???????? ???????????? ???????????????? trust @OpenAI or its products (ChatGPT etc). There is only one reason for appointing an @NSAGov Director to your board. This is a willful, calculated betrayal of the rights of every person on Earth. You have been warned. https://t.co/bzHcOYvtko

— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) June 14, 2024

Nakasone, who retired from the NSA in February 2023, was the longest-serving leader of the U.S. Cyber Command and chief of the Central Security Service.

In addition to joining OpenAI’s board, he will also be a part of the company’s newly formed Safety and Security Committee. According to OpenAI, Nakasone’s insights will contribute to the company’s efforts to strengthen cybersecurity by quickly detecting and responding to threats.

However, Snowden’s concerns stem from his experience as a whistleblower who exposed the NSA’s surveillance of private citizens’ information in 2013. Since then, he has been a polarizing figure, with some praising his work in revealing surveillance and intelligence collection practices, while others accuse him of threatening national security.

Snowden’s strong reaction to Nakasone’s appointment highlights the ongoing debate about the balance between privacy, security, and the development of powerful AI technologies.

OpenAI has been in hyper-growth mode since the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022, and the company has been bolstering its leadership team and partnerships to keep pace with the rapidly evolving AI market.

OpenAI recently announced a collaboration with Apple to integrate ChatGPT with Siri and hired two top executives: Sarah Friar as chief financial officer and Kevin Weil as chief product officer.

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